1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of cleaning elements and, more particularly refers to a soap mixture for use in personal cleaning, such as a toilet soap, and even more preferably the invention relates to a soap unit to be used only once, that is as a disposable unit in a format and dose enough for use a s soap bar, shampoo, hair conditioner and any other cleaning and cleansing element for personal, domestic or industrial application.
2. Description of the Prior Art
For several number of years several formats and shapes have been used for various kinds of soaps used for personal applications and other uses in the domestic and industrial areas. The formats and presentation of these products have always been the results of studies related to the particular use of the soap, that is in liquid, powder and solid formulations.
According to the practice, a soap is a past resulting from the combinaton of an alkali with oil acids and other fatty components. In the pharmaceutical field, a soap is a combination of ammonium or another alkali or a metal oxide of oils, fatty components and resins. In soft soaps the alkali is the potash and in hard soaps he alkali is the soda ash. Some typical formulae for soaps used for hygiene are as follows:
While the above formulae have been in use during a considerable number of years, some formats and presentations have been modified according to the modern market demands. In the particular case of the toilet soap bars, the same have been commercialized in larger or smaller pieces of soap, but always such units had a size enough to use the soap bar for several times. While all these soap bars have been designed for personal use, these bars are exposed to the use by many different persons either in the house, or in worse conditions, in public locations, such as toilets or bathrooms at restaurants, gas stations, etc. It is quite common to find a soap bar of this type with many impurities like dirty, down, hair and other undesired elements. While the bar is found in solid state, dry and with consistency enough to be used, the people is reluctant to use the soap bar in the above dirty conditions and, generally, the soap bar is disposed even with an almost entire original size, that is with a little use. In other words, the soap is wasted prematurely because of its appearance.
Other cleansing products such as the shampoos and hair conditioners are commercialized in large and non practical containers which, in addition to the inconveniences of these containers in their use, the same are spoilage and dangerous agents for the environment when empty. Some times, the cost of the container reaches the cost of the contained product and, even if special caps are fitted in the container few possibilities of metering the content are provided for the consumer. Generally, when used by children or in baths at sport clubs, hotels and other public places, the product is remarkably wasted such as poured onto the floor, used unnecessarily in excess, etc.
In view of the above drawbacks, it would be therefore convenient to have a kind of soap, shampoo, hair conditioner or any other cleansing product, preferably a personal toilet product, capable of providing a personal unit with a small size, to be used once and disposed without waste of the product. Even if a person skilled in the art would think the question is easily resolved by making a soap bar or cleansing product as small as possible to only cover the needs of an individual during a hands washing operation or a shower, this attempt has been shown not a solution to this problem as long as too much time must be awaited for until such presumable soap bar is dissolved in the hands, over the human body or in any other application.
It would therefore be desirable to find such a small soap unit capable of being applied, preferably, in personal hygiene and having a high capacity to be quickly dissolved in a washing or cleansing operation.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a single-dose soap for use only once, as a disposable soap unit, the soap unit having a high solubility in order to be quickly dissolved during a washing operation, the soap unit comprising lauryl sodium sulfate, a first hydrophilic disintegrating agent, an agglutinating agent, and a second hydrophilic disintegrating agent for causing a sudden disintegration and dissolution of the soap when contacting with a liquid for the washing operation. The invention also provides a method for manufacturing the soap unit.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a singledose soap for use only once, as a disposable soap unit, the soap unit having a high solubility in order to be quickly dissolved during a washing operation, the soap unit comprising lauryl sodium sulfate, a surfactant agent, an agglutinating agent, and croscaramellose, an hydrophilic disintegrating agent for causing a sudden disintegration and dissolution of the soap when contacting with a liquid for the washing operation. The invention also provides a method for manufacturing the soap unit.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide single-dose soap body, the soap body having a high solubility in order to be quickly dissolved in a liquid for washing operation, the soap body comprising about 35 wt % to about 98 wt % lauryl sodium sulfate with a 98% purity, a softener agent, and magnesium estearate.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide single-dose soap body, the soap body having a high solubility in order to be quickly dissolved in a liquid for washing operation, the soap body comprising about 15 wt % to about 25 wt % lauryl sodium sulfate with a 98% purity, about 8 wt % to about 15 wt % of croscaramellose, and/or corn starch.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method of manufacturing a single-dose solid soap body with increased solubility, the soap body being quickly dissolved in a washing operation, the method comprising:
a) forming a mixture by mixing the following powder components:
about 15 wt % to about 25 wt % lauryl sodium sulfate,
about 15 wt % to about 20 wt % of a first hydrophilic disintegrating agent, an agglutinating agent, and
about 50 wt % to about 60 wt % of a second hydrophilic disintegrating agent, the second disintegrating agent causing a sudden disintegration and dissolution of the body upon subject the body to said washing operation.
It is even another object of the present invention to provide the above mentioned method, wherein the components are compressed from a powder form and agglutinated into a compact and quick soluble solid soap body, such as a solid bar, a solid tablet, a solid pill, solid pellets, solid lozenges, ovules and capsules.
The above and other objects, features and advantages of this invention will be better understood when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings and description.